Coming Of Age In John Updike's A & P

There is something distinctly special about coming of ages stories. They empower our imagination and challenge our own understanding of ourselves. We desire and think that a character will, hopefully, make and act the same way we would, but more often than not they take us down paths we would never have considered. One such story: John Updike’s “A&P,” tells the coming of age story of a teenage boy who meets a group of girls that not only make him question his beliefs and force him to make a choice, but ironically those exact beliefs come back to bite him.
Sammy is your typical eighteen year old, whose views don’t coincide with his parents generation. As a cashier he meets and observes many customers formulating his own precise views and beliefs
But this is where Sammy has an epiphany. He realizes how his beliefs and his actions don’t match and decides that not only would taking a stand for the girls be right, but also he might be able to join there group. Even though he might face public backlash for sticking out, he also might receive some like minded friends. Unfortunately, Queenie and the trio don’t seem to have cared about Sammy’s heroic actions. Although, Sammy decided to take action and stick it to conformity he inevitably gets screwed over by his decision ending the story with Sammy knowing his life will undoubtedly be harder, because of his decision to no longer conform.
The Sammy that we see at the end of “A&P” is no longer the same cowardly silent objector. His beliefs and views line up with his actions, and he isn’t going to back to his former life, even if it means his life will be harder in his community. This coming of age story is really unique, because it takes to path that you mostly would have taken. Sammy ended up somewhere very scary and lost, most likely to be looked at with scorn for gossiped about for his actions, for a relatively useless reason in some